While out running errands, going for a bite to eat or just driving a short distance to see friends or family you may have noticed more hybrids and in some cases electric cars sharing the road with traditional vehicles or maybe you haven’t noticed a difference at all. Obviously some locales have citizens that are a little more hip to the green scene than others and the experts at Cars.com have done the number crunching to reveal which cities these people call home.
Cars.com evaluated car shopping behaviors on its web site to find interest in hybrid vehicles as a percentage of total car shopping activity and the results have been released in the site’s 3rd annual Green Cities Index.
"This Earth Day, there is a lot for car shoppers to celebrate, including the release of the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf electric vehicles," said Cars.com Editor in Chief, Patrick Olsen. "While these new environmental darlings have yet to hit the market, eco-conscious shoppers already have more hybrid options to choose from than ever before and buying a more environmentally friendly vehicle has never been easier. Green Cities takes a look at the cities where these options are most engaging consumers."
San Francisco took the top spot on the index with Laredo, TX coming in last for the second straight year. The only cities outside of California to break into the top ten were last year’s winner Eugene, OR along with Glendive, MT, Madison, WI. and Gainesville, FL. Overall West Coast shoppers showed more interest in hybrid vehicles than other regions. The South region lagged behind the others showing the least interest in hybrid vehicles.
"Outside the West Coast, smaller towns across the country with large state universities continue to show larger than normal interest in hybrid cars," Olsen said. "Madison, Wis., home to the University of Wisconsin; Gainesville, Fla., home to the University of Florida; and Charlottesville, Va., home to the University of Virginia all appear in the top 15."
Without further ado here is the list in its entirety.
2010 Green Cities Ranking – Greatest Hybrid Shopping Activity as a Percent of Vehicle Search on Cars.com:
1 San Francisco - Oakland - San Jose
2 Eureka, CA
3 Portland, OR
4 Eugene, OR
5 Glendive, MT
6 Santa Barbara - Santa Maria - San Luis Obispo, CA
7 Seattle – Tacoma, WA
8 Madison, WI
9 San Diego, CA
10 Gainesville, FL
11 Monterey – Salinas, CA
12 Chico – Redding, CA
13 Bend, OR
14 Charlottesville, VA
15 Sacramento - Stockton – Modesto, CA
16 Salt Lake City, UT
17 Medford - Klamath Falls
18 Fairbanks, Alaska
19 Missoula, MT
20 Washington DC (Hagerstown)
21 Denver
22 Austin, TX
23 Rochester - Mason City - Austin
24 Minneapolis - Saint Paul
25 Boise, ID
26 Los Angeles
27 La Crosse - Eau Claire, WI
28 Tucson (Sierra Vista), AZ
29 Boston
30 Phoenix
31 Burlington – Plattsburgh, VT
32 Mankato, MN
33 Bangor, ME
34 Helena, MT
35 Lansing, MI
36 Juneau, AK
37 Raleigh - Durham (Fayetteville), NC
38 Lexington, KY
39 Columbia - Jefferson City, MO
40 Butte – Bozeman, MT
41 Portland – Auburn, ME
42 Cedar Rapids - Waterloo & Dubuque, IA
43 Honolulu - HI
44 Palm Springs, CA
45 Fresno – Visalia, CA
46 Harrisonburg, VA
47 Lafayette, IN
48 Bakersfield, CA
49 Twin Falls, ID
50 Reno, NV
51 Yakima - Pasco - Richland – Kennewick, WA
52 Springfield – Holyoke, MA
53 Syracuse, NY
54 Roanoke – Lynchburg, VA
55 Kansas City
56 Rapid City, SD
57 Las Vegas, NV
58 Spokane, WA
59 Green Bay – Appleton, WI
60 Albany - Schenectady – Troy, NY
61 Evansville, IN
62 Albuquerque - Santa Fe, NM
63 Idaho Falls – Pocatello, ID
64 Cincinnati
65 Des Moines – Ames, IA
66 Springfield, MO
67 Tallahassee – Thomasville, FL
68 South Bend – Elkhart, IN
69 Birmingham (Anniston and Tuscaloosa), AL
70 Sioux Falls (Mitchell), SD
71 Billings, MT
72 Anchorage, AK
73 Richmond – Petersburg, VA
74 Peoria – Bloomington, IL
75 Providence - New Bedford, RI
76 Fargo - Valley City, ND
77 Chicago
78 Norfolk - Portsmouth - Newport News, VA
79 Davenport - Rock Island – Moline, IA
80 Saint Louis
81 Milwaukee, WI
82 Tulsa, OK
83 Jonesboro, AR
84 Nashville, TN
85 Omaha, NE
86 Charlotte, NC
87 Indianapolis
88 Wilmington, NC
89 Columbus, OH
90 Dallas - Fort Worth
91 Champaign & Springfield – Decatur, IL
92 Panama City, FL
93 Fort Wayne, IN
94 Orlando - Daytona Beach – Melbourne, FL
95 Grand Rapids - Kalamazoo - Battle Creek, MI
96 Fort Myers – Naples, FL
97 Fort Smith - Fayetteville - Springdale – Rogers, AR
98 Colorado Springs – Pueblo, CO
99 Youngstown, OH
100 Salisbury, MD
101 Lincoln & Hastings – Kearney, NE
102 Knoxville, TN
103 Baltimore, MD
104 Dayton, OH
105 Cheyenne – Scottsbluff, WY
106 Watertown, NY
107 Binghamton, NY
108 Louisville, KY
109 Topeka, KA
110 Columbia, SC
111 Greensboro - High Point - Winston-Salem, NC
112 Jacksonville, FL
113 West Palm Beach - Fort Pierce, FL
114 Chattanooga, TN
115 Tampa - Saint Petersburg (Sarasota), FL
116 Johnstown – Altoona, PA
117 Jackson, TN
118 Rockford, IL
119 Atlanta
120 Oklahoma City, OK
121 Hartford & New Haven, CT
122 Mobile - Pensacola (Fort Walton Beach), AL
123 Greenville - Spartanburg - Asheville – Anderson, SC
124 Lubbock, TX
125 Wausau – Rhinelander, WI
126 Philadelphia
127 Presque Isle, ME
128 North Platte, VA
129 Cleveland, OH
130 Greenville - New Bern – Washington, NC
131 Terre Haute, IN
132 Harrisburg - Lancaster - Lebanon – York, PA
133 New York
134 Saint Joseph, MO
135 Pittsburgh
136 Rochester, NY
137 Great Falls, MT
138 Parkersburg, WV
139 Little Rock - Pine Bluff, AR
140 Detroit
141 Grand Junction – Montrose, CO
142 Joplin – Pittsburg, MO
143 San Antonio, TX
144 Toledo, OH
145 Duluth – Superior, MN
146 Wichita – Hutchinson, KS
147 Houston
148 Paducah - Cape Girardeau - Harrisburg - Mt Vernon, KY
149 Utica, NY
150 Buffalo, NY
151 Huntsville - Decatur (Florence), IL
152 Traverse City – Cadillac, MI
153 Dothan, AL
154 Charleston, SC
155 Miami - Fort Lauderdale
156 Marquette, MI
157 Minot - Bismarck – Dickinson, ND
158 Wichita Falls & Lawton, KS
159 Beaumont - Port Arthur, TX
160 Columbus - Tupelo - West Point, MS
161 Bowling Green, KY
162 Memphis, TN
163 Casper – Riverton, WY
164 Tyler - Longview (Lufkin & Nacogdoches), TX
165 Amarillo, TX
166 Flint - Saginaw - Bay City, MI
167 Sherman – Ada, TX
168 Elmira, NY
169 Augusta, GA
170 Ottumwa – Kirksville, IA
171 Savannah, GA
172 Columbus, GA
173 Sioux City, IA
174 Waco - Temple – Bryan, TX
175 Lima, OH
176 Zanesville, OH
177 Yuma - El Centro, AZ
178 Biloxi – Gulfport, MS
179 Wilkes Barre – Scranton, PA
180 Baton Rouge, LA
181 Macon, GA
182 Tri-Cities, TN-VA
183 Montgomery (Selma), AL
184 New Orleans
185 Florence - Myrtle Beach, SC
186 Clarksburg – Weston, WV
187 Quincy - Hannibal – Keokuk, IL
188 Abilene – Sweetwater, TX
189 Albany, GA
190 Charleston-Huntington, WV
191 Alexandria, LA
192 Odessa – Midland, TX
193 Wheeling – Steubenville, OH
194 San Angelo, TX
195 Bluefield - Beckley - Oak Hill, KY
196 Erie, PA
197 Monroe - El Dorado, AR
198 Lake Charles, LA
199 El Paso, TX
200 Meridian, MS
201 Harlingen - Weslaco - Brownsville – McAllen, TX
202 Lafayette, LA
203 Shreveport, LA
204 Corpus Christi, TX
205 Jackson, MS
206 Hattiesburg – Laurel, MS
207 Alpena, MI
208 Victoria, TX
209 Greenwood – Greenville, MS
210 Laredo, TX
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Photo Credit: cc: flickr.com/photos/thetoad01
